The next day, on the Yangtze River, eighteen big ships went downstream, and there were more than ten Zhou warships accompanying them, not far from the front is Zhengrongzhou, and not far downstream after Zhengrongzhou, which is Xiyang City on the north bank, which is also the destination of their trip. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The fleet started from Shu in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and went downstream, and by the autumn wind, the road was smooth and windy, although each ship was fully loaded but the same went fast, like many wealthy merchants in this era, a trip down through many countries.

Shu is the land of the Sui State, out of the mouth of the Yangtze River Gorge, the north bank is the Liang State, the south bank is the Chen State, the two countries are hostile, so the river defense is very strict, and to the Hankou area, the north bank is the land of the Zhou State, the south bank is the Chen State Yingzhou, the two sides are also sabre-rattling.

Even so, the fleet sailed thousands of miles unharmed, not without being intercepted by the naval armies of various countries along the way, but they all passed without danger, because for the border generals of various countries, no one and money could not get by.

When the ship set off, it was full of heavy grain, a total of 135,000 hu, so much grain had to leave the Sui State, it was impossible for the government not to find out, but really no one would take care of it.

135,000 Hu, according to the consumption of 2 Hu per month and 24 Hu a year, is enough for the ration of 5,600 soldiers for a year, which is neither too much nor too little, but the Liang army, Chen army, and Zhou army along the way just turned a blind eye, and it was nothing more than money to open the way.

The confrontation between the north and south banks of the Yangtze River, the border generals will draw knives and cut each other at any time, but the things that do business in private and the opposite side are repeatedly prohibited, and the wealthy businessmen come and go to various places, and the relevant contacts have been in business for decades, so as long as the money opens the way, the goods transported should not be too excessive.

The size of the fleet of eighteen ships is not too large, so the border generals who have taken the advantage will turn a blind eye, and when they pass through Hankou, they are accompanied by the warships of the Zhou State Navy, and the Chen State Yingzhou Navy, which has been disabled, is not seen at all.

"The naval army of the Southern Dynasties has always been sharp, but I never expected it to be so embarrassed."

A middle-aged man stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the ruins of the dilapidated water military camp in Fankou on the south bank, and took into account the Zhou warships that were 'escorting' on the left and right, and deliberately lowered his voice.

"The owner, the front is Zhengrongzhou, where Huan Xuan's soldiers were defeated in the past."

Another person stepped forward, he was older, his hair was gray but his body was equally tough, and he spoke with a lot of energy, and the two looked at the Zhou Jun Water Village on Zhengrong Continent and fell into deep thought.

"There are warships, it seems that they are dealing with the Fankou Chen Guoshui army."

"Sure enough, as the news said, the river was blocked together with Wu Zhou downstream, if it were... The warship of this Zhengrongzhou went down the river, which was very troublesome. ”

"It's all going with the flow, it depends on who is faster."

The two talked in a low voice, as if commenting on the river view, because of the 'escort' of the Zhou State Navy warship, Zhengrongzhou Water Village did not react, and the fleet quickly passed through Zhengrongzhou and continued to move forward.

Xiyang City is in front of you, but there are many people busy on the riverside, and the people on the boat look up, only to see that the riverside is building a river embankment, and many cargo ships are directly leaning on the shore to unload the stones regardless of the turbulent current.

"I'm actually building the Yangtze River embankment... With so much courage, so many manpower, and so many stone carriers, the amount of work is not small. ”

"Boss, it's time to get ready."

。。。。。。

On the wharf, Wang Yuezheng shook hands with a middle-aged man, whose surname was Li, a big businessman in Shu and a business partner of the Sogdian clan in Tongzhou, who personally escorted grain to Xiyang to trade glass mirrors.

"Shopkeeper Wang, this is a letter from An Langjun, please check."

Wang Yue took the envelope handed over by the other party, took out a piece of letterhead from it, looked at it carefully several times, and confirmed that it was Yu Wenwen's handwriting, and there was an agreed code word in the text, and then carefully put it away, and said with a smile: "Li Dongjia, please, let's talk in the city." ”

Li Dongjia boarded the carriage that had been waiting on the dock, the gray-haired old man followed, and the two carriages drove towards Xiyang City one after the other, while the shopkeeper Liu of the Duke of Yiguo stayed at the dock with the rest of the other party, ready to inspect the goods.

Eighteen boats, carrying 135,000 grains, six of which were directly anchored at the riverside near Xiyang City, a temporary wharf was specially built for unloading, and the remaining twelve ships went downstream to unload their goods.

The temporary wharf outside Xiyang City was fully prepared, and six grain ships berthed at the same time, and the porters who had been waiting for a long time rushed up under the command of Shopkeeper Liu and others and began to unload the goods.

Bags of grain were carried out of the grain boat, carried to the prepared scales, and then carried to the side of the carriage, where the cloth bags were cut, the rice was poured into wooden barrels to check the condition, and after confirming that it was correct, it was poured into the carriage, and everything was carried out in an orderly manner.

On the shore, several teams of soldiers dressed in full clothes were on guard, and the big shields were placed into a shield wall, and they stood behind the shield wall, watching the people on the temporary dock on the shore unload, and on the city wall not far away, the vigilant state soldiers also strengthened the garrison.

To be exact, the number of crossbowmen has been increased, and now all of them who have been promoted to the lord of the building are patrolling the city in armor, glancing at the temporary wharf on the shore from time to time, and the number of soldiers at the construction site of the river embankment not far away has also increased significantly.

"Lord, where did you get so much food?"

"Who knows, don't ask around, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't say what you shouldn't say."

The soldier touched his head in embarrassment, and when he saw this, he didn't teach a lesson, looking at the big boats on the shore, he didn't bother much: Since it was the food that Yuwen envoy got from it, it was definitely not to fill his pockets, and it would be good for everyone, so it didn't matter where he got it.

The life of the state soldiers is getting better and better, the family has divided the fields, Yang Sima has clear rewards and punishments, and a large group of people in the family are well fed and warmly dressed.

In the past, the big-headed soldier who was so poor that he was loud and loud has now become the master of the building by virtue of his military merits, and not only all, but many of his partners have been promoted to varying degrees, are actively trained, and are well-equipped, and they are all looking forward to fighting again and making meritorious contributions.

"Keep an eye on them, and listen to my orders if something is wrong!"

I don't know how long it took, the grain ship gradually emptied, Liu shopkeeper and the other party's personnel checked the number to be sure, and then waved his hand and began to receive the cargo ship.

Merchants who travel between the east and west of the river, from the upstream to the downstream, generally dispose of the ship at a low price after doing business, and easily take the money and silk back, either by land by car or by small boat.

It's very simple, it's easy for a big boat to go downstream, but it's very troublesome to go upstream, and it's hard to row in the southeast wind season, and it's impossible to row at all in autumn and winter.

Not to mention the time spent on the road, the cost of hiring a boatman to row a boat is quite large, especially for the wealthy merchants who sell goods, and there are more than a dozen boats in the fleet.

This is commonplace, this time the shopkeeper Liu also deliberately mentioned to 'buy' these boats, and he wants to use them for other purposes, of course, this is just a pretext, in fact, the prevention is that the ship has a mezzanine, hiding some things that should not be there.

This was negotiated in advance, and of course Li Dongjia didn't ask for a fee, after all, the price of only eighteen ships was a drop in the bucket compared to the price of the glass mirror.

Xiyang's boatmen poured onto the cargo ships, each accompanied by more than a dozen soldiers, and after leaving the docks, they went down the river to anchor at Wuzhou downstream, where they were inspected and converted to other uses.

Seeing that everything was normal, Shopkeeper Liu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and smiled and invited the other party's personnel to board the car and enter the city.

The same scene was staged in Bakou, but on a larger scale, Xu Shao, the guard of Badong County, sat in town with the people of the Duke of Yiguo, commanding Qingzhuang to inspect the goods and dismantle the ship, and the Hulin Army also sent more than 1,000 soldiers to 'watch' on the shore.

No one asked, and no one dared to ask, but thanks to the abundant manpower and effective organization, the unloading, inspection, and sailing of the ship into Wuzhou downstream were all successfully completed.

"Everyone, please come to Padang City, and a banquet has been arranged to wash the dust for you."

The people from the Duke of Yiguo led the grain ship personnel to Badong City, Xu Shao nodded to the general of the Hulin Army beside him, and then beckoned his subordinates: "They are going to spend the night in Badong City, pay attention to vigilance tonight, and be careful." ”

"Yes!"

'I hope everything goes well...' Xu Shao thought to himself, glanced at Xiyang City in the distance, and then turned to leave. (To be continued.) )